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Ukrainian president’s actions backed by 87 percent of military

KIEV, February 04, (ITAR-TASS). The actions of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich are backed by 87 percent of the personnel of the country’s armed forces, Pavel Lebedev, the acting defence minister, told reporters.

“Every citizen and serviceman now expresses the civic stand on the political situation in the country,” he said. “Assemblies held in the armed forces were aimed to assess the situation and ask the supreme commander not to allow unleashing a civil conflict. It is characteristic that 87 percent of the personnel came out in the president’s support, seven percent were against and six percent abstained,” he said.

Lebedev said assemblies had been held in all regions of the country “on a voluntary basis, with openness and transparency,” while commanders had no influence on what their subordinates said.”

“I wish that the manifestation of the military’s will should sober up the ‘hotheads’ who cannot stop even though the president proposed every possible variant of a peaceful settlement of the conflict,” said the acting defence minister.

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